When Windows 7 sees that your DESKTOP PC has a Wacom tablet attached, it activates a bunch of Tablet PC – based features that annoy most users. This post will explain what these problems are and how to disable them.

NOTE: I’ve covered these topics before, but separately and went into a lot of technical detail – this post is the comprehensive guide that just tells you what you need to know.

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE LATEST DRIVERS

NOTE: When the drivers are first installed is when Windows 7 starts to enable all the unwanted Tablet PC features.

STEP 2: DISABLE THE TABLET PC INPUT PANEL

The first annoying Tablet PC feature is the Tablet PC Input Panel

You’ll typically see it as a little bar on the side of your desktop.

And when your cursor gets close it starts to flaunt itself…

Clicking it will reveal its full monstrosity ….

And there’s more. You’ll often also see a small input panel icon hovering hear any text input boxes

We want to disable this entirely.

Go to Control Panel > Tablet PC Settings

Click on the Other tab

On the Other tab, under Tablet PC Input Panel options, click on Go to Input Panel Settings

Disable all the checkboxes and select OK.

STEP 3: DISABLE FLICKS

The Flicks icon shows up on the notification area.

If you click on the Icon you’ll see some for of the Flick UI

The effect of flicks is that normal gesturing with the pen causes Windows to think you are giving it a command. For example, drawing a short down stroke will cause the following flick notifcation

Of course, we hate this and want to disable it.

Open the Pen and Touch control panel

Click on the Flicks tab

Uncheck the two checkboxes and press OK

STEP 4: DISABLE PRESS-AND-HOLD

Another hated feature. It’s a bit hard to describe in words, so here is an animation of its effect. All I am doing is pressing the pen down and then you’ll see the hated “glowing ring” followed by a property menu when I lift the pen (Press-and-hold things that pressing is an equivalent of a “right click”)

In Control Panel go to Pen and Touch

Under Pen Options, select Press and Hold and click Settings

Uncheck Enable press and hold for right-clicking and press OK

STEP 5: DISABLE DYNAMIC FEEDBACK

This is all the little rings that display whenever you press down with the pen

The is the hardest one to disable because there’s no place in the control panel that lets you disable it.

You are just going to have modify the registry and take care of it that way.I have provided a REG file that will help you do this

ONE LAST STEP

Sometimes all these changes will take place immediately, sometimes it takes a little longer. Usually the easiest way to force the changes is to simply log-off and then log back on. If that doesn’t work just try restarting your machine. (Those who are more technical may choose to simply restart the “Tablet PC Input Service”)

@woozl - Using Group Policy Editor will work for disabling dynamic feedback - but this only works on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate. Windows Home Professional does not have the Group Policy Editor so users need an alternative solution. The one I describe above using the registry keys works for all

Techincal Note: Enabling "Turn off pen feedback" in GPEDIT sets the same registry key as I describe. (Though my instructions turn it off in multiple places in the Group Police hive)

OMG this worked perfectly! I have Windows 7 Home Premium so this was especially helpful since all of the other tutorials had you access some Local Settings that aren't available on this OS. YOU ARE THE MAN. Goodbye ripple effect.

Thank you for this - you have saved my sanity. The 'tablet pc input panel' has to be the most obnoxious and bone-headed thing thing I've had to deal with on a PC from a legit bit of software. I've seen more considerate malware. (Windows 7)

None of all that works. It is literally impossible to disable the garbage rings. They are invinsible. The only way to do it is to get another OS besides Windows 7 trash. Microsoft is going DOWN because of these rings! The programmer who added the code and the one who came up with the idea are both morons, complete IDIOTS

That last bit about disabling feedback hit the spot :) It was killing me - in 3DS Max, Alt+middle mouse click worked perfectly fine with mouse, but lagged horribly with the wacom pen. All other functions work fine with the pen, except Alt+MMB. After disabling pen feedback , 3DS Max works like a charm with Alt+MMB:)

Allelujah! The circle thing has p!ssed me off for years! To the point where I started to hate using my Wacom. One of the earlier posts hit the nail on the head with the description of it killing me inside.

Using applications like InDesign are a nightmare when trying to accurately set up rulers etc because of the stupid half second delay that means you don't pick up where you wanted to.

thx a million - not only are these useless features annoying they actually stopped the graphics pen actually drawing anything - windows took so long displaying the dumbass circles and fliks that it never kept up with the pen position. The most annoying thing is how bloody difficult it is to turn all these functions OFF.

@mt (mtrafton) - I don't have a Bamboo tablet with me at the moment, but I will have one next week and I can explore any issues specific to the Bamboo version. If you have any additional information about the problems you are encountering with your Bamboo Tablet, please let me know - it will make it easier for me to investigate.